reading someone else's feedback

[Quixilated]

I don't think you can make a blanket statement one way or the other.  There are plenty of poems that could be written "by anonymous" for all the author matters to my enjoyment of them.  And there are others where knowing the history behind them makes the reading of them richer.  Sometimes the "history" is the author's own background, other times it could be historical relevance, or other trivia.  Some poems say what I need them to say all on their own, and I don't even want to know what the author intended it to say because I need my own interpretation of it to remain intact.  And other times knowing things about the author can make a poem feel more friendly, like I'm in on all the secrets it is whispering.  

Anyway, it's not something that can be generalized one way or the other.  Every poem and every reader come together to create a unique and inimitable experience.